LEARNER’S NEEDS TO STUDY IN GRADUATE PROGRAM IN TEACHING THAI AS A FOREIGN LANGUAGE

Abstract

The objectives of this research were to 1) Study the learner's needs to pursue a Master of Education program, Academic field of teaching Thai as a foreign language. 2) Study background information to develop a Doctor of Philosophy program, Academic field of teaching Thai as a foreign language. The data were collected by Learner’s needs to pursue a Master of Education program, Academic field of teaching Thai as a foreign language questionnaire. Data analysis by distributing the frequency and finding the percentage. The results found that 1) The number of female respondents was 345, representing 88.46% more than male 45 people or 11.54%, 140 respondents were under 30 years of ages, representing for 35.90%, and most of the respondents were teachers from the government agencies, 82 people or 21.03%. 2) Most of the respondents wanted to further their study within three years, 173 people or 44.36%, and looking for further than three years, 217 people, or 55.64%. 3) 224 people of respondents or 28.46% wanted to continue the study by thesis plan and course work, 111 people or 28.46% wanted to study by thematic plan plus course work, and 55 people or 14.10% wanted to continue the study by thesis plan only.
4) 255 people of the respondents or 65.38% wanted to further their study in the extra sector after office hours, 57 people or 15.62% wanted to further their education in the part-time, 23 people or 5.90% wanted to study in the summer semester, and 55 people or 14.10% wanted to study in the regular semester.
5) 315 people or 80.77% wanted to study in a lecture-based format, 305 people or 78.27% wanted to study through online media and wanted to study with a foreigner. 6) 325 people or 83.33% were interested in teaching and learning Thai as a foreigner language, 321 people or 82.31% were interested in the development of teaching Thai materials, and 295 people or 75.64% were interested in the development of Thai language course as a foreigner language. 7) 155 people or 39.74% wanted to use their knowledge for developing their work, 110 people or 28.21% wanted to develop their knowledge and 125 people or 32.05% wanted to increase education qualification.